Attic ventilating apparatus



Jan. 17, 1961 J. L. 'KAROL ATTIC VENTILATING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 5, 1959 INVENTOR. 1055/ 1. A7480;

BY (i Arrow/w y 9 United States Patent ATTIC VENTILATIN G APPARATUS Josef L. Karol, 14200 Aetna St., Van Nuys, Calif.

Filed Jan. 5, 1959, Ser. No. 785,031

1 Claim. (Cl. 98-43) This invention relates to attic ventilating apparatus, and included in the objects of this invention are:

First, to provide an attic ventilating apparatus which includes a novel exit housing structure adapted to be mounted externally on a roof, and which is so arranged that it may be installed on roofs of any pitch or even flat roofs.

Second, to provide an attic ventilating apparatus wherein an exhaust fan or blower is readily suspended from the exit housing structure without adjustment irrespective of the slope of the roof.

Third, to provide in an attic ventilating apparatus a novel means of suspending an exhaust fan or blower wherein the exit housing may be first installed and then the exhaust fan may be installed without the use of tools, merely by inserting the discharge end of the blower into the inlet end of the exit housing structure.

Fourth, to provide an attic ventilating apparatus which utilizes the entire attic as a plenum, and utilizes exhaust openings in the ceilings of the several rooms under the attic.

Fifth, to provide an attic ventilating apparatus wherein the intake ends of the exhaust fan or blower are connected to exhaust manifolds extending along the apex of the attic roof so as to effect uniform flow of air to the blower from all points along the length of the attic.

With the above and other objects in view, as may appear hereinafter, reference is directed to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure l is a fragmentary, longitudnial, substantially diagrammatical view of a roof i.lu-strating an installation of the attic ventilating apparatus, the section being taken substantially through 11 of Figure 2;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary, substantially diagrammatical, transverse, sectional view through 2-2 of Figure 1, showing the upper portion of a building including the roof and attic, and illustrating an installation of the attic ventilating apparatus;

Figure 3 is an enlarged side view of the attic ventilating apparatus;

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view through 44 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view of the region embraced by the circle 5 of Figure 3;

Figure 6 is another enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view of the region embraced by the circle 6 of Figure 3.

The attic ventilating apparatus is adapted to be installed in a building 1 having several rooms 2 covered by a ceiling 3. Supported over the ceiling 3 is a gabled roof 4 defining, with the ceiling, attic space 5. The attic ventilating apparatus is adapted to be supported by the roof 4 adjacent its ridge 6 between a pair of rafters 7.

The attic ventilating apparatus includes an external housing 8 formed of sheet metal. The housing includes parallel side walls 9, each side wall comprising a complementary triangular portion and a quadrant portion. The side walls 9 are joined by a top wall 10 which ex- 2,968,230 Patented Jan. 17, 1961 tends along one side of the triangular portions and curves over the arcuate margin of the quadrant portions.

Secured or formed integral with the external housing 8 is a bottom plate 11 which extends laterally from the hypotenuse margins of the triangular portions as well as longitudinally of the housing forming a flange completely surrounding the housing. The bottom plate 11 is adapted to be fitted under the shingles, or other roofing material, covering the roof 4 and is provided with a large inlet opening 12. The external housing 8 is adapted to be positioned over an opening (not shown) cut in the roof 4 and having dimensions somewhat greater than the inlet opening 12.

The arcuate extremity of the quadrant portions of the side walls 9 terminates in margins which define, with the corresponding portion of the top wall 10, a relatively large exit aperture 13 which forms an obtuse angle with the bottom plate 11. The lower margin of the bottom plate projects beyond the exit aperture 13. The exit aperture is covered by a screen 14.

The bottom plate 11 when installed on a roof occupies a position parallel with the roof surface so that the exit aperture 13, which is directed toward the low side of the roof, is directed downwardly toward the roof, and thus tends to protect the duct formed by the external housing 8 from rain, snow, or the like, which may fall on the roof.

Disposed within the external housing 8 and forming the lower margin of the inlet opening 12 is a relatively low cross wall or partition 15 having a flange 16 directed toward the exit aperture 13. The cross wall serves to prevent backflow of water which may be blown upwardly through the exit aperture 13 and screen 14.

The inlet opening 12 formed in the bottom plate 11 of the external housing 8 is adapted to receive an internal housing 17 in the form of a channel member having trapezoidal side walls 18 and a bottom wall 19. Portions of the side walls 18 extend within the triangular portions of the side walls 9 of the external housing 8 and are joined thereto by spot welds 20.

One margin of the bottom wall 19 is provided with a lip 21 which is folded over the flange 16, as shown best in Figure 6. The opposite extremity of the bottom wall 19 and corresponding margins of the side walls 18 form with the top wall 10 an inlet opening 22 in angular relation to the inlet opening 12. That is, the inlet opening 21 is disposed at substantially right angles to the top wall 10 in the region wherein the top wall joins the bottom plate 11. It will thus be seen that the external housing 8 and internal housing 17 combine to form a duct having an inlet end in angular relation to the roof and depending therefrom so as to be directed into the attic space 5, and an outlet or exit aperture end externally of the roof but directed downwardly toward the roof 4 so as to shelter the duct formed by the housings.

The inet opening 22 is dimensioned to receive a blower or fan 23. The blower or fan includes a scroll-shaped housing 24 having axially disposed inlet opeings 25 and an essentially tangentially disposed outlet mouth 26. The mouth 26 fits within the inlet opening 22. Within the housing 24 is a suitable motor 27 and a suitable conventional fan or blower element. The blower or fan 23 is, per se, conventional. It is immaterial to the present invention whether this unit be considered a blower or a fan; therefore, for convenience, it will hereinafter be designated blower.

The blower 23 is adapted to be installed in the inlet opening 22 after the external and internal housings have been installed as a unit in the roof 4. For this purpose, the top wall 10 is provided adjacent the upper flange of the bottom'plate 11 with a flat sheet metal hook element 28 which is riveted, spot welded, or otherwise secured .8 to the top wall 10. The housing 24 of the blower 23 is provided externally at the upper margin of the outlet mouth 26 with a corresponding sheet metal hook 29, facing in the opposite direction.

Sufiicient clearance is provided between the outlet mouth 26 and the inlet opening 22 to permit the hook 29 to slip past the hook 23 as the outlet mouth 26 is inserted, so that, on subsequent partial withdrawal of the mouth 26, the hooks 23 and 29 engage as shown in Figure 5. When the hooks 28 and 29 are so engaged, a shoulder 30 formed by the lower margin of the mouth 26 and the housing 24 bears against the lower margin of the inlet opening 22 to hold the blower in pace.

It will thus be seen that the relatively light and easily manipulated unit comprising the external housing 8 and internal housing 17 may be initially installed in the roof,

and then, after such instalation, it is merely necessary to insert the outlet mouth 26 of the blower into the inlet opening 22.

The attic ventilating apparatus is preferably mounted adjacent the peak or ridge 6 of the roof 4 so that air flowing upwardly into the attic space may be drawn to the blower 23 and exhausted through the exit aperture 13. In order to ensure substantially uniform extraction of air throughout the length of the roof 4, tubu lar inlet ducts 31 having appropriate apertures 32 may extend axially from each end of the housing 24 for any desired distance along the roof 4 adjacent the ridge 6.

In combination with the attic ventilating apparatus in volving the housings 8, 17, and 24, the ceiling 3 covering the various rooms 2 is provided with ventilation registers 33 so that air may be extracted from each of the rooms and flow from the attic space 5 to the blower or to the apertures in the inlet ducts 31. The attic itself thus functions as a plenum.

It will be observed that the pitch of the roof may vary from the nominal pitch of a flat roof to a steeply pitched roof without change in the construction of the housings 8 and 17 or bottom plate 11, or change in the method of mounting the blower 23.

While a particular embodiment of this invention has been shown and described, it is not intended to limit the same to the exact details of the construction set forth, and it embraces such changes, modifications, and equivalents of the parts and their formation and arrangement as some within the purview of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

An attic ventilating apparatus, comprising: a fiat rectangular frame adapted to be mounted on a sloping roof, and having a central rectangular opening therein adapted to register with a hole in said roof; a cross wall projecting outwardly from the roof at the lower margin of said opening; a hood projecting outwardly from the upper side of said opening and arching over and beyond said cross wall in spaced relation, said hood having side walls bordering the side margins of said rectangular opening; a channel-shaped member extending through said rectangular opening, and including side walls adapted to fit within the side walls of said hood and a bottom wall extending outwardly through said rectangular opening, and terminating in hook means adapted to book ever said cross wall; said channel-shaped member having an inner end below said roof forming, with the region of said hood adjacent the upper margin of the opening in said rectangular frame a rectangular inlet opening in angular relation to the inlet opening in said rectangular frame; a hook means secured to the region of said hood forming the upper margin of said iniet opening; and a blower having a rectangular discharge opening adapted to fit within said inlet opening and a hook element engageable with said hook means to secure said blower relative to said inlet opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,391,216 Stewart Sept. 20, 1921 2,297,050 Cotton Sept. 29, 1942 2,382,076 Leslie Aug. 14, 1945 2,433,544 Blake Dec. 30, 1947 2,551,223 Schneider May 1, 1951 2,569,319 Krug Sept. 25, 1951 2,733,649 Le Barron Feb. 7, 1956 2,893,305 Jenson July 7, 1959 

